Bob-
This, from Yahoo. Note the comment about "volume stinks". That means to me that we may have reached a short term top, so a pullback in prices here wouldn't surprise me.
Palladium futures top $520 an ounce in New York
NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Palladium futures rose to an all-time high over $520 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange
Friday, with no sign that shipments from top-producer Russia would soon satisfy surging industrial consumption, traders said.
Benchmark March palladium at 1054 EST was quoted at $521.00 an ounce, up $6.95 and just off the high of $522.
In London, spot palladium was fixed at a record high $515.00 in the morning and was fixed a hair lower at $514 in the afternoon. It was
last indicated at $512.00/$517.00.
``It's just still tightness in the cash market in both palladium and rhodium. We're just following the cash market,' said a NYMEX floor broker.
``But the volume here stinks. In the last $5 of the move, maybe 20 lots (went through,)' he said referring to the turnover of 100 ounce contracts.
Along with sister metals platinum and rhodium, palladium is used to remove pollutants from vehicle exhausts.
Palladium is the most efficient auto catalyst, and the auto industry has been bidding up prices and stockpiling as global emissions laws tighten.
Russia, producer of two-thirds of all palladium, has shipped sporadically this year, but not enough has arrived to meet demand, dealers said. |
